Houston County committee debates pay raises, jail staffing and SRO funding

Houston County budget committee members spent the meeting reviewing proposed salary increases, staffing shifts for the jail and courthouse, and contingency plans for school resource officer funding.

The committee opened discussion on employee compensation after staff presented updated figures for benefits and insurance. Committee members considered a plan that would preserve an across‑the‑board raise of $1.50 per hour as a baseline while seeking additional targeted increases for certain positions, notably jail staff and courthouse bailiffs.

Why it matters: County leaders said retaining corrections staff and bailiffs is a priority because pay at local private‑sector employers and nearby jurisdictions is higher. Several members warned that vacancy and turnover risks could rise if pay does not increase for jail employees.

Most of the meeting’s debate centered on how to fund increases without deep cuts elsewhere. Staff estimated the county could reallocate roughly $464,000 from the fund balance and other sources to support raises; stretching that amount could produce up to $514,000, depending on reimbursements and year‑end figures. Committee members discussed multiple options: moving one existing deputy salary into the jailer line, reassigning a courthouse bailiff, or keeping a $1.50 baseline and layering a larger raise for correctional staff.

On jail staffing, members discussed several numerics and scenarios. Using the transcript figures provided by staff, a deputy salary around $54,000 could be redirected to support pay increases equivalent to about $2.15 per hour for jail positions if one position were repurposed. The committee also discussed staffing counts: payroll numbers and line‑item totals were used to estimate that funding at the proposed levels would support roughly 11 to 12 deputy positions if fully funded at the historical per‑deputy amount.

School resource officers (SROs) drew extensive attention. Committee members noted a current SRO grant award of approximately $379,000 for the coming fiscal year, and they discussed building a local “buffer” in the budget in case the grant is not renewed by a future governor or state administration. Several members urged keeping two SRO positions funded through local funds as a contingency against potential loss of state grant support.

Committee members emphasized that some pay requests originated in department budgets and that smaller departments sometimes do not submit specific raise requests; the committee agreed to treat the countywide compensation package comprehensively rather than by district. Staff said they will prepare final cost estimates and run the exact numbers to show the true incremental cost of increasing specific positions versus a uniform raise.

Discussion versus direction versus decision: Much of the meeting was discussion and direction to staff. Members asked staff to prepare concrete cost calculations and to model options that would (a) keep a $1.50 baseline across the board and (b) raise jail personnel to a higher target (figures discussed ranged from $18.00 per hour up to a $2.50 per‑hour increase in some proposals). Committee members also discussed reassigning an existing position (a bailiff or deputy) to create room in the budget for targeted jail increases; one specific direction was to explore moving one bailiff’s funding to the jail line.

No formal roll‑call vote altering appropriations was recorded in the transcript for these pay items; the committee indicated agreement on approach and asked staff (identified in the meeting as Rachel and Laura) to prepare the final budget documents reflecting the committee’s direction.

Ending: Committee members set follow‑up work for staff to produce updated budget documents and cost models ahead of the next study session on June 16. The meeting adjourned at the end of the session.